US OPEN
The final Grand Slam of the year gets underway on Monday evening and spread bettors will be anxiously waiting to hear the news of Novak Djokovic's injury. Spread punters looking to buy Djokovic's outright index (100pts for winner, 70pts for runner-up, 50pts for losing semi-finalist etc.) will have been particularly disappointed to see him retire early from the Cincinnati Masters final against Andy Murray trailing 4-6, 0-3.
Even with a potential shoulder complaint, the world number one has been in sublime form in 2011 and spread buyers of his outright index will be pleased to learn that he has only lost twice in 59 matches this season. Anyone planning on selling the Serbian's outright index might like to know that he has never won the US Open, although he reached the final in 2007 and 2010.
While the final in Cincinnati remained competitive, Murray outplayed his opponent and that will be a huge bonus to spread buyers of Murray's outright index. A Grand Slam remains elusive for the Scot and buyers of his outright index will be interested to hear that he has reached the final at the Australian Open and the last four in Paris and at Wimbledon during 2011.
Spread enthusiasts will have noticed that Roger Federer is no longer the player he once was, but he showed at the French Open he still has the game to take down anyone on his day. At the semi-final stage in Paris he brilliantly beat Djokovic and that may lead some spread punters to look at his outright index in New York.
Rafael Nadal clinched the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open and buyers of his outright index will be hoping for back-to-back victories at Flushing Meadows. The Spaniard has won at least one Grand Slam title in seven consecutive seasons, but sellers of his outright index may have seen that he lost in the Rogers Cup first round in Canada and then lost to Mardy Fish at the Cincinnati Masters quarter finals last week.
The 2009 US Open winner, Juan Martin Del Potro, enjoys playing on the hard surface and the Argentine may attract spread bettors' interests once more in New York. However, spread sellers of his outright index should note that he lost in the second round in Montreal and Cincinnati over the past couple of weeks.
Sporting Index as always offer plenty of interesting spread markets for Grand Slam matches, one of which is the total games market. Spread buyers of the total games market for the men's final will be looking for another 2009 contest which lasted an impressive 53 games, as will buyers of the match distance spread (100pts for five sets, 50pts for four sets).
Another market of interest for spread punters is the X-courts market. Spread buyers will again hope for a repeat of the final two years ago which accumulated 138 points. However, spread sellers of the X-courts market may have spotted that the past four women's finals have all been decided in two sets – with Kim Clijsters beating Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 in only an hour in 2010.
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